Assistance League of St. Louis has named Jane Harbron its president for the 2019-2020 term. In 2009, after a 35-year career at IBM as Consulting Partner and Sales Executive, Jane joined Assistance League of St. Louis—an organization that for more than 30 years has responded to the unmet needs of tens of thousands of St. Louisans.
In the past decade, Jane has assumed several leadership positions, including Vice Chair and Chair of one of two major fundraisers for the organization, Vice President Fund Development (and Grant Writer), Chairman of Information Technology, President-elect and President in 2015-2016. As president then, she championed the organization’s first Discovery Day at the Saint Louis Zoo—now an annual tradition when 60 Assistance League volunteers bring more than 120 deserving children to a local venue for new athletic shoes and socks, new books, activities and healthy lunches.
In the past year, she also established a new model for serving children through Assistance League’s largest program--Operation School Bell.® Currently volunteers give each of over 7,800 students not only new school uniforms but more than 20 other clothing and personal care items when children are transported to Assistance League headquarters for twice-yearly uniform fittings.
Harbron recognized that an alternative delivery model should be developed to meet the immediate needs of children. Building on her strong relationship with Saint Louis City School officials, she won approval for a plan allowing Assistance League to create closets in those schools where the immediate needs of many of the students were great. In November 2018, Assistance League announced the opening of 17 fully equipped closets in Saint Louis Public Schools to provide basic clothing and personal care needs even more quickly to 4,800 deserving elementary school students.
Each school closet now has new coats, school uniforms, jackets, underwear, socks, hats, gloves and toiletry items. In addition, if requested, Assistance League volunteers will bring new shoes to participating schools. Through its programs that deliver teddy bears and activity kits to children in hospital emergency rooms and crisis centers, Assistance League is also providing these items for each school closet. Many of the closets also have gently used clothing to be used in emergency situations. Supplies are replenished on an as-needed basis. These students, like thousands of others in the region, also will enjoy Assistance League book fairs – the organization’s goal is to distribute 12,000 books to area students.
As the leader of this and other Assistance League initiatives, Harbron, in 2018, recorded 1,250 hours of volunteer service.
“The importance of the initiative to establish closets and Jane’s strong leadership in making that happen led to her election to a second term as president,” said retiring Assistance League of St. Louis President Roxie Randolph. “Her strategic sensibilities, strong commitment and amazing organizational skills will help our organization continue to move forward in serving the many needs of residents of the St. Louis region.”
Jane is a resident of Chesterfield, Missouri.
